Attendance 2,768
A meagre 2,768 crowd at McDiarmid Park, Perth belied
the importance of this bi-annual competition, the
Scots having performed admirably to finish ahead of
Germany in their group two years ago, only to falter
in the Play-Offs against Croatia.
Rangers’ Graeme Smith and Alan Hutton featured in the
starting line-up, as indeed did former Ibrox player
Andy Dowie, now with Partick Thistle. Hutton alas did
not finish the game, suffering an ankle injury the
extent of which will be ascertained in the next few
days following scans.
The home side almost got off to a flying start inside
forty seconds when Slovenian goalkeeper Igor Nenezic
held David Clarkson’s shot from a Peter Sweeney pass.
The opening goal duly arrived in ten minutes however –
Hutton creating the opening with a crossfield pass to
Simon Lappin whose chip across the face of goal was
headed home by Garry O’Connor.
The lead was short-lived – indeed Slovenia almost
levelled straight from the kick-off when Gregor
Robertson blocked Sasa Bozicic, but four minutes later
it was indeed all square when Borut Semier netted from
Luka Zinko’s pass.
The first yellow card of the evening arrived in twenty
minutes when Slovenian Captain Mitja Morec was booked
for a foul on Scott Brown.
Scotland spurned an outstanding opportunity to retake
the lead five minutes later when Sweeney played a
one-two with O’Connor before hitting the post,
Clarkson firing the rebound over an open goal.
The half ended level at 1-1, Coach Rainer Bonhof
making two changes at the interval, with Hibernian’s
Steven Whittaker and Derek Riordan replacing Jamie
McCunnie and the injured Derek Clarkson.
Seven minutes after the restart the home side suffered
another injury blow when Hutton suffered what appeared
to be a serious ankle injury in a tackle with Dejan
Urbanc.
The visitors were reduced to ten men in 55 minutes
when Morec received a second yellow card and
subsequent red for a late tackle on Sweeney.
Lappin almost put Scotland ahead again in 62 minutes,
his low 25-yard drive being held by Nenezic, then four
minutes later, as the home side poured forward,
O’Connor’s volley from substitute Bryan Prunty’s pass
was bundled behind by the goalkeeper.
Despite continuous pressure the Scots failed to
capatilise on their numerical advantage and the final
scoreline of 1-1 represented a moral victory for the
visitors.
Coach Bonhof observed:
“We missed good chances, but Slovenia defended well
even with ten men. Normally we would have won this
game, but we will have to work on our finishing. We
lost important players at vital times.”
Bonhof almost revealed that Alan Hutton has suffered a
swollen ankle, possibly due to ligament problems, the
extent of which will be ascertained following
examination.”
SCOTLAND Smith; Dowie, Lappin; Diamond, Robertson,
McCunnie (Whittaker 45); Hutton (Prunty 54), Sweeney,
O’Connor, Brown, Clarkson (Riordan 45)
UNUSED SUBS Turner, Kinniburgh, Morrison, Murray
SLOVENIA Nenezic; Brecko, Hadzic; Urbanc, Berko,
Morac; Zinko (Kelhar 79), Matic, Stromajer (Vrsic 54),
Semier, Bozicic (Jesenicnik 57)
UNUSED SUBS Simcic, Duca, Robnik, Bozic
REFEREE Egill Mar Markusson (Iceland)